Exploiting tragedy to excoriate Trump

I'm all about holding leaders' feet to the fire, even taking it to them hard if necessary. Being subject to a critical eye is part of their job, and it is our job as responsible citizens to hold them accountable. So yeah, I like it. What I don't like, however, is the abandonment of decency and truth for partisan political advantage. This is exactly what we are witnessing in this firestorm that Rep. Frederica Wilson has ignited with President Trump.

The Florida congresswoman should be ashamed of herself. No evidence of shame exists, however. Rather, Wilson seems pleased with herself, even jokingly referring to herself as a "rockstar."

But Wilson is no rockstar. She is an exploiter. Her exploitation of the death of U.S. soldier Army Sergeant La David T. Johnson, killed in Niger, to excoriate President Trump is despicable.

Look, everyone knows Trump is far from perfect. He can come across as full of himself, is inclined to Twitter wars and is a tad bit on the supersensitive side. "The Art of the Deal" author is anything but artful in speech, but he is also anything but hateful toward the military. He is, in fact, the polar opposite.

Anyone paying the slightest attention knows we have a president who supports our military and veterans. Say what you will about him otherwise, but he has shown the deepest respect for our nation's finest. The idea that he called Myeshia Johnson, Sgt. Johnson's widow, to insult her is so farfetched that even those suffering from the most severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome do not actually believe he intended to hurt her with his words. Thus, any outrage at the accusations Wilson has leveled is faux outrage. It's chicanery. And it's disgusting.

Wilson said that as she listened in on the conversation the president had with Johnson when he called to console her, she heard him say, "He knew what he was signing up for." In layman's terms, she alleges the president was basically saying, "Oh, well. He knew he was going to die when he enlisted, so that's his bad."

No, that is not what the president was saying. The president was praising Johnson, who, like others who choose to wear the uniform, is a hero because only heroes sign up knowing the danger, knowing what may happen.

Wilson's response was, "It was horrible. It was insensitive. It was absolutely crazy, unnecessary. I was livid."

The mainstream media, of course, jumped on the congresswoman's skewering of the president. They were pleased to report, also, that Johnson's mother said Trump "did disrespect" her son. I don't fault her. She just lost her son. She's hurting. Hurting people do not always assess situations clearly. Add to that someone like Wilson whispering nonsense in her ear, and that doesn't help. So no, I do not fault Johnson, but I do fault Wilson -- because she knows better, but she doesn't care.

Lt. Gen. John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff and a Gold Star father, was also present for the call and decided to address the situation last Thursday. During his stirring speech in which he shared some of his own story about losing his son in Afghanistan, Kelly said:

"Some presidents have elected to call. All presidents, I believe, have elected to send letters. If you elect to call a family like this, it is about the most difficult thing you could imagine. There's no perfect way to make that phone call. When I took this job and talked to President Trump about how to do it, my first recommendation was he not do it because it's not the phone call that parents, family members, are looking forward to. It's nice to do, in my opinion, in any event."

So if Trump is to be criticized, it's for not taking his chief of staff's advice to not make that call. It's for choosing the "nice" thing of letting a hurting person know she is not alone. It's for wanting to tell her that her husband is remembered and honored. It is not for purposely hurting a grieving wife.

But Wilson, who is clearly no Trump supporter, decided this was her opportunity to attack Trump, and it didn't matter if that was achieved by exploiting the soldier whose life was taken or playing on the emotions of a family who lost their loved one. It was just a chance to stick it to Trump. Shameful.

I admit I despise politics more every day, and it's because of stuff like this. Use any situation you can to hurt people. Play the race card. Exploit the vulnerable. Lie if you must. Screw the truth. And put the screws to the enemy. Rinse. Repeat.

Kelly said he was "stunned" and "brokenhearted" that Wilson twisted this tragedy. I'm sad to say such actions have become so commonplace that not much stuns me anymore, but I am brokenhearted by it all. These times reveal how far we've fallen. God help us crawl our way out of this hole -- and God comfort Sgt. Johnson's family as they mourn their unspeakable loss. They do not deserve to be made pawns in anyone's political chess game. What they deserve are everyone's heartfelt prayers.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member. Contact her at aross@semissourian.com.